


Closer

by ticklishraspberries



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Femslash, Femslash February, Fluff, Tickle Fights, Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 20:16:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17874131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ticklishraspberries/pseuds/ticklishraspberries
Summary: El and Max get along much better now.





	Closer

Unsurprisingly, El hadn’t really known what tickling was until she met the party, and then later, of course, Will and Max. Once she was introduced to it though, it became something she found incredibly entertaining, more than videos games or D&D or riding bikes.

Any sarcastic comment, self-deprecating joke, or simply a zoned out expression would earn them pokes and squeezes from El.

Well, except for Max.

They’ve grown closer recently, even hanging out alone when the boys want to waste their days away in Mike’s basement. Max teaches El to skateboard, and El shows off her powers every once in a while, and Max always watches so attentively it makes El blush under the pressure.

The two girls had actually made up very quickly, and El had even apologized for her behavior when they first met. They were civil, though still a little awkward at times. Max had always gotten along with boys better, and El had never had any friends before she met the boys, so it only made sense for them to be unsure how to act.

Max makes El nervous in a way that the boys never did. She’s pretty, with long waves of hair red hair and freckles which covered the bridge of her nose, shoulders, and legs.

El can’t help but be embarrassed around her.

Especially when Max, out of instinct, rolls her eyes and pokes El’s side as if it’s something they do every day.

El gasps out a laugh, twitching away from the touch, her eyes going a little wide and her cheeks turning pink.

Max realizes her mistake and blushes too, her freckled face matching her hair. “Sorry,” she says. “I’m so used to doing that with Lucas that I just—”

“It’s okay,” El replies immediately, and she means it. She’s blunt, so Max knows she wouldn’t sugarcoat it just for her.

The girls fall into a heavy, awkward silence that hangs in the air like a humid Hawkins day, and El fiddles with the buttons of her overalls before ultimately deciding to cut that tension. She reaches over, squeezing Max’s knee quickly.

The redhead snorts and pulls her leg back so quickly that she almost knees herself in the chin doing so.

They pause, making eye contact, a silent conversation readable on their expressions.

‘Are we actually doing this?’

‘Oh, absolutely.’

And then, hands are flying everywhere, having never exploited each other’s ticklish spots, despite having them basically memorized from watching the boys poke and prod them.

El latches onto Max’s hips and kneads them like the dough she helped Hopper bake last week, while Max aims for El’s underarms and wiggles her fingers despite how El has clamped her arms down desperately.

It isn’t long until they wind up rolling around in the grass, and El cries out for mercy when Max goes for her belly.

Grinning, Max flops down beside her, catching her breath.

They lay like that for a bit, the sounds of their heavy breathing and residual giggling floating in the air.

Rolling onto their sides, they face one another, so close their noses almost touch, and they smile. Smiling so big and wide, it hurts their cheeks.

El leans in gently and presses a soft kiss to the tip of Max’s nose.

Max goes pink but leans forward herself to kiss El’s forehead.

They obviously grew much closer after that.


End file.
